Stories from Saturday, December 1, 2007

Elvina M. Ray, 91, Cloverdale, died Friday at Rosewalk Village, Lafayette. Arrangements are pending at Whitaker Funeral Home, Cloverdale.

Mona Maxine Hobbs Gough, 89, Greencastle, died Thursday evening at her residence. Born in Montgomery County, she was the daughter of Roy and Edith Mae (Barker) Hobbs. She was a 1936 graduate of Crawfordsville High School. She married John Willard Gough on July 2, 1938 and he preceded her in death on Jan. 28, 1976...

Charles L. Marquart, 79, Cloverdale, died Friday at his residence. Born in Linton, he was the son of Albert and Elsie (Schwartz) Marquart. A U.S. Army veteran, he had been a correctional officer at Putnamville Correctional Facility. He was a member of Faith Baptist Church, Cunot...

Frances J. "Jo-Dee" Rogers, 75, Reelsville, died Friday at her residence. Born in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of Luther Lawrence and Frances Ioanne (Coffee) Deck. She was a homemaker and former secretary for the Wayne Township Fire Department in Indianapolis for many years. She was a member of Trinity Baptist Church, Brazil...

Sheriff's Dept. Putnam County Sheriff's Deputies responded to several crashes recently. Deputy Don Pettit responded to a fender-bender at 4:54 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 70 near the 37-mile marker. Joshua Hight, 26, Lansing, Mich., was driving east on I-70 when traffic began to slow down because of traffic ahead of him when the 2000 Dodge Neon driven by Sonia Housley, 50, Milwaukee, Wisc., rear-ended his 2005 Honda Accord, according to a police report...

CLOVERDALE -- The Clover-dale Town Council voted 3-1 Thursday night to reorganize the police department in 2008 -- further demoting former police chief Charlie Hallam and simplifying the pay scale. The plan, which Marshal Don Pearson presented, eliminated all but four of the seven ranks in the police department -- including chief deputy, the rank Hallam currently holds...

The former LoBill Foods grocery store on Indianapolis Road in Greencastle did not sell at auction recently, but a company official is hopeful for a quick sale. Marsh Supermarkets spokeswoman Connie Gardner declined to specify the number of bidders at the auction, or if anyone bid at all...

Slumping sales could close a Mexican restaurant that got into hot water after health inspectors found a deer carcass in its kitchen, the manager said. Owner Socrates Montano told the staff of La Charreada, 1360 Indianapolis Rd., that he might close the eatery down if sales don't improve this weekend, said Julio Muniz, La Charreada's new manager...

Jason Inglert, owner of A+ Homes of Greencastle, attaches Christmas lights to the top of the Putnam County Courthouse Friday afternoon. There were 11 strands that went up and the Greencastle Department of Public Works will attach the lights to the surrounding buildings this weekend. On the ground (at right), A+ Homes employee Ben O'Hair helps string the lights and county employees Ken Hutcheson and Tom Gilson attach lights to a flagpole to form the shape of a Christmas tree...

The GMS seventh-grade boys' basketball A and B teams split close games with Tri-West Thursday. The A team won 27-24 while the B team lost 25-20. Hayden Stuckwisch had a big night for the Tiger Cubs as he scored 16 points in the win. Nate Christy scored four and Kellan Alspaugh added three points...

The Greencastle boys' eighth-grade basketball team couldn't overcome a tough first quarter and fell to Tri-West 50-33 Thursday. The Tiger Cubs were outscored 20-0 in the opening quarter but rebounded to out pace the Bruins 26-14 over the next two quarters to pull within eight points after three. Tri-West held off the Tiger Cub charge and sealed the victory with a 16 point fourth quarter...

The South Putnam Eagles wrestling squad defeated Rockville 57-6 Thursday at home. Picking up wins by pin for the Eagles were Seth Green, D.J. Adams, Logan Kinney, Tom Migliano, Brad Eickhoff and Josh Sanders. Brandon Vaughn, Ben Parker and Michael Migliano won by forfeit and Josh Olczac won by decision...

Greencastle used increased defensive pressure and some offensive rebounding to make a 13-0 second quarter run to take control of Friday's opening contest of the Putnam County Classic with South Putnam. The Tiger Cubs rode that momentum to the end, ultimately defeating the Eagles 56-37 to advance to tonight championship game...

When shots are falling, life is good. It was that simple for Cloverdale (2-1) on Friday night as they defeated North Putnam (0-2) 73-40 in the second game of the Putnam County Classic. After the Cougars took a 2-0 lead on Zack Hedrick bucket, the Clovers scored the next 12 points, and never really looked back, controlling the tempo until late in the fourth quarter...